Urgent ques regarding benefits

[hamid84]

We have recently been granted ILR after 8 years.. Family consists of 6 people. Parents, 25, 22, 20 and 16 years old children.

We have been given notice by NASS to stay in current property till 1-Dec-2006 so my questions are;

What should be the next step?

How can we all stay in the same house as a family? If we can, the how should we inform council to claim rent ( No job at the moment )

We have found the private house and will be moving in on 1st...

I have applied for job seeker allowance online but still waiting to hear from them.

Can someone guide me please?

Thanks

[John]

If no one in the house working at the moment?

To claim Housing Benefit contact the relevant department of your local council.

What benefits are being claimed at the moment? Child Benefit? Tax Credits? You mention JSA, but anything else?

[hamid84]

No one is working...

We all have received NINO's.....

Will be contacting council tomorrow for housing benefits...

[tasha75]

No one is working....

But in your other post you said you work in Post office?
And where is your wife and the child (I assume s/he has now been born).

[John]

What benefits are being claimed at the moment? Child Benefit? Tax Credits? You mention JSA, but anything else?

The answer to that?

[hamid84]

I am on traning at post office for a few days ( unpaid until i learn the work ).

My wife is international student and has NIN so i was wondering if i could apply for child benefits?? I have never done this for 7 months.

[John]

You have told us "We have recently been granted ILR after 8 years" and accordingly I invite you to look at the restrictions on those ILR visas! What, there are no restrictions!

There is no problem you and/or your wife claiming whatever benefits that your circumstances dictate are available to you. You both have ILR, yes?

You now tell us "My wife is international student and has NIN", but what about you? Do you have a NI number? If not, do apply for one, at the local Job Centre+ office.

[republique]

You have told us "We have recently been granted ILR after 8 years" and accordingly I invite you to look at the restrictions on those ILR visas! What, there are no restrictions!

[hamid84]

Hi John.. Thanks for answering..

We means ( My parents, sis and bro )...

Yes i do have NIN now BUT the problem is we have not registered our marriage in court ( I need to get COA right ?? )

The reason i asked that because my wife is still student and does not have ILR so according to her visa, she can not claim any benefits.

So now my question is, would it now be OK for us to apply for child benefit as i have ILR???

Hope you understand this time.

[hamid84]

Hi John,

I am Job Seeker allownace now from today....

[John]

Ah right, the person you mention as your "wife" is not your wife legally ..... yet. In order to make it possible to get married legally your "wife" will need to obtain a CoA. You do not need to do that, given you have ILR.

After she gets the CoA, the two of you should proceed to give the needed Notice of Intention to Marry, at the Register Office, and then proceed to get married.

After the marriage has happened, your wife should use form FLR(M) to switch in the UK to a 2-year spouse visa. When does her current student visa expire?

The benefits? No problem you claiming the Child Benefit. You live with your "wife"? Under benefit law either parent can be the Child Benefit claimant, and although in most households it is the mother that claims, there is no problem the father be the claimant.

Also, Tax Credits, no problem you and your "wife" jointly claiming Tax Credits, even though your "wife" has the "No recourse to Public Funds" restriction on her current visa.

[hamid84]

John.. You have made my day but now the problem is i never mentioned in Job Centre that i was married as i need to register my marriage so if i tell them now that i am married, wont they ask for further proofs?

My wifes visa expires in Feb.. She is doing MBA so hopefuly we can get further 1 year extension.

I want to get the her visa extended, then apply for COA and SET (M ).. Need over £1000 for that stuff...

Further suggestions will be appreciated as usual.

[hamid84]

Sorry for being really nut as it's the 1st time i have come across these benefits and claims.

Although, i hate getting benefits but i believe my child deserves them as he can not work.

Let me know what else i can apply for 7 months old baby. I remember getting leaflet about child trust fund when he was born but we didn't know what to do with that.

[tasha75]

John.. You have made my day but now the problem is i never mentioned in Job Centre that i was married as i need to register my marriage so if i tell them now that i am married, wont they ask for further proofs?

Does she live with you? If you live with your spouse/partner then you are supposed to tell the DWP about them as that may affect your JSA claim - if she works over I think 24 hours then you'll not be eligible for income based JSA (you can't get contribution based JSA either).
But I think you can still claim child tax credit and working tax credit if one of you works (you'll be the main claimant).
Child trust fund - when your child benefit is processed they will send you a voucher for £250 which you have to put in the bank in your child name (its your child money and they cant withdraw it until they are 18 ). If you are getting tax credits at certain rate, then they will send you another voucher for £250 (too much to write now).

[John]

the problem is i never mentioned in Job Centre that i was married

Well that is good, because you are not legally married.

My wifes visa expires in Feb

When in February? Just wondering whether you can get the CoA and the marriage done first?

I want to get the her visa extended, then apply for COA and SET (M )

Not quite, after the marriage has happened she will use form FLR(M) to apply for a 2-year spouse visa ..... not SET(M) for ILR. Her ILR will come 2 years later.

[hamid84]

Hi John,

Visa expires on 15th Feb 09 so do you think i should apply for COA now or get her visa extended to be on safe side?

If the COA is granted in our favour, then what happens? ( Say its all done before Feb ).

Would she still be student after that or will need to apply for FLR (M ) straight away?

Tasha.. She lives with me........We both are not working at the moment.

[John]

hamid84, that date is say 2-and-a-half months away. I think people applying for a CoA are waiting for about a month at the moment, but that cannot be guaranteed. But as long as the CoA comes through by the end of January, about 8 weeks away, you should be OK, as long as you are not too choosy about the marriage date.

The procedure would be :-

• apply for the CoA as soon as possible. In the post tomorrow, or certainly by Monday
• after the CoA is issued, go to the Register Office and give the required Notice of Intention to Marry. That is displayed openly in the Register Office for 15 days, after which the two of you can marry.
• Get married! In fact when you get the Notice they will ask if you want to book a date, and that could be any time after the Notice has been displayed for the 15 days.
• Once you have the marriage certificate in your hands, apply for the 2-year spouse visa using form FLR(M). As long as that application is posted prior to the expiry date of the current student visa then your wife, as she will be, will not be an overstayer.

Here is the webpage from Birmingham Register Office that gives a bit more detail about the procedure. Other Register Offices might have a similar webpage.

For the CoA application downloads .... click here.